Comparison

Hourglass Time vs CongPlan

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hourglass Time

Manage congregation assignments and schedules, submit field service reports, and receive important notifications. Requires an invitation from your Congregation Secretary to get started.

Highlights
  • View assignments and schedules
  • Enter field service reports
  • Receive notifications and reminders
  • Accept congregation invitations
Features
Read full description

View congregation assignments and schedules, enter your field service reports, receive notifications and reminders, and more! To use this app for the first time, you need an invitation from your Congregation Secretary. Open the invitation email on your device and accept the invitation.

About

CongPlan

Features
Read full description

CongPlan brings your congregation's plan to iPhone and iPad: meetings, assignments, field service and public witnessing — with passkey sign-in, notifications and a plan you can read offline. The app connects you directly to your CongPlan account. For you personally • My Plan: all your own assignments and dates in one list • Assignment with context: date, part, assistant and location • Record an absence without giving a reason • Request a swap: qualified people who are not absent are asked • See open public witnessing shifts and sign yourself up if you are eligible • Congregation announcements with an unread marker • Calendar subscription (ICS): your personal plan in your device calendar • A reminder notification before it is your turn For the planning team • Plan the programme of the Life and Ministry Meeting and the Weekend Meeting • Field Service Meetings with location and conductor • Public witnessing: create locations, weekdays and shifts • Outgoing public talks with speaker, theme and host congregation, including protection against double booking on a weekend • Automatic suggestions leave out people who are absent • Print Center: week and month overview, field service groups and congregation roles as PDF or notice On iPhone • Sign in with a passkey via Face ID, Touch ID or device passcode. There is no password. • First access through the personal invite link or QR code from your admin • Notifications for assignments, swap requests and announcements • Without a connection the last loaded plan stays readable. Changes need a connection. • Links to your plan open directly in the app • 14 languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian Access and cost CongPlan is free. A congregation registers once, then the admin invites everyone else with a personal link. Without that invitation or your own registration the app cannot be used. Transparency CongPlan is a private project by Sascha Henning and not an official product of any organisation. The data is held on servers in Germany (Frankfurt). Every congregation sees only its own data. Usage statistics are collected without tracking cookies. The source code is published under AGPL-3.0. Questions: kontakt@congplan.app Guides: docs.congplan.app

Screenshots

Hourglass Time2 screens
CongPlan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: CongPlan at weekly against Hourglass Time's every 4 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hourglass Time ships an update every 4 weeks, CongPlan weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Hourglass Time versus CongPlan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHourglass TimeCongPlan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (805 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings805 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB3 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperCongregation Software FoundationSascha Henning

Bugs and requests

Hourglass Time

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Reports not loading
  • Unable to see group service reports
  • Publisher information not editable
  • Invitation links not working
  • Incorrect default start dates for pioneers

Requested features

9 requests
  • Add calendar function for assignments
  • Allow tracking of field service activity
  • Provide option to choose auxiliary pioneer
  • Add ability to enter time in increments
  • Improve label printing functionality
Show 4 more
  • Add option to cache publisher data
  • Provide ability to edit mistakes after submission
  • Implement iCloud or other backup solution
  • Add more language support (e.g. Spanish, Albanian)

CongPlan

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Hourglass Time

No in-app purchases

None

CongPlan

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hourglass Time free?
Hourglass Time is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CongPlan free?
CongPlan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Hourglass Time or CongPlan have ads?
Neither Hourglass Time nor CongPlan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hourglass Time or CongPlan?
Hourglass Time ships an update every 4 weeks, and CongPlan weekly. Most recently, Hourglass Time was updated on October 16, 2026 and CongPlan on October 3, 2026.

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